Butter and Brooches

I'm working on some new painted brooches to pour tomorrow, with plans for them being in the shop Sunday. These are more in line with my last set of cameo pendants, I like the more detailed paintings, I think they'll be a cohesive addition to the shop. I love the bigger gold pieces, especially the girl with the feather in her hat:) Here's a little peek at some that are ready for the resin and a few that aren't finished being painted yet.







Today I've been getting some domestic delights underway, I like to do this after I spend time cleaning or doing not as fun stuff to reward myself. A few days ago I got my new issue of BUST magazine, while thumbing through, I read a small article on how to make your own butter. First off, I love anything that makes me feel like a pioneer woman, so this is right up my alley. Since I've been planning on making bread (thank you Smitten Kitchen), I thought this is the perfect excuse to actually do it and not just think "Hey, I should do that sometime" and never quite get around to it. I feel like I've accomplished mountains today, because my Kitchen Aid and I made butter.

Here's the basic idea-

Pour a pint of heavy whipping cream and a pinch or two of salt into your mixer and put on high. I've read a few other recipes where it says to add the butter afterward, I'm no expert I just followed what the article said and it turned out great. After about 10 minutes maybe longer it'll turn yellowish and grainy, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times to ensure even mixing throughout the whipping process. Once liquid is present, turn mixer down to medium so that the buttermilk that is separating won't spray everywhere. After another minute, stop mixer and pour the buttermilk into a cup and save for baking. My favorite kitchen tool, the spatula scraper is awesome for combining the butter into a manageable ball and not wasting any of that yummy butter on the sides of the bowl.
Form a ball and transfer to another bowl, at this time I was able to squeeze some more buttermilk from the ball with my hands. Add some cold water to the bowl with your butter ball, knead a few times in your hands (when I tried to knead against the bottom of the bowl, it just stuck to the bottom, so I think the hands is a good way) and then pour off the water adding new cold water. Do this a few times till the water runs clean. Put your beautiful butter ball into a bowl or canister, I think putting it in a little porcelain canister like this would be perfect. I didn't have one that wasn't being used, so I'll be getting another soon.

After pouring out buttermilk, but before
forming a ball, kneading and rinsing.


Finished product-


Make your own butter, you'll feel like a champ.

I'll let you know how my bread turns out. Happy Frackin' Friday folks, any Battlestar fans out there?

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